Monday, October 22, 2007

Hey, Crow Doesn't Taste Too Bad!

You know when you rant and rant about something it's going to come back and bite you in the butt. If it's a free bite in the butt though it's easier to take though! Most of ya'll know that I dislike Pella windows because they have a tendency to rot, in my opinion. I even inadvertently attracted the attention of Pella Corp. with my rants here on their product. Well, anyway, I was offered 10 free Pella windows by a dear friend who didn't need them so...... beggars can't be choosers, I guess. They look great and I really, really appreciate the gift. I don't want it to sound like I just took them and didn't really want them, I just need to take some extra steps to assure that they stay dry in their setting. So, this weekend, we set the windows which helps in closing in the underside of the house. This is very important now as winter is approaching and I have bare water pipes under there and an uninsulated floor. We used 3/4" plywood to create a backing for the windows (spaces where cut out in the plywood so that you can see through the windows) and this works to suspend the window in the space above the concrete block so that I can lay the stone around the windows without hindrance. And I can lay the stone at my leisure and the space is still closed in. That stone work is going to take some time and I would have never been able to get it all done before winter with all the other work on me.
Here is a little better view of what we have done. You can see the stone work approaching from the far side. The stone lays out flush with the front of the block work so the windows will be recessed into the stone about 3 inches. I will wrap the outside of the windows where you see the bare wood, with a rubber membrane to keep the moisture out. It's the same stuff we used in the window sills before we set the windows upstairs. This is some cool new plywood too. Well, I don't know how new a product it is but this is the first time Allen and I had seen it. It's called Dryply. It's apparently just CDX with one side embedded with a water repellent. Looks like good stuff. Could have really used that when we put the sub floor down. It's tongue and groove stuff too.
So, this is the "basement" now. My pottery studio will go down here and some storage. This area you see here is where the washer and dryer will go for now. We need to continue that wood frame wall on the right a little more and put up a door and it will be dried in then.
I was finally able to order the tile for the shower and it is on it's way! YEA!!! I have a feeling I will be down there installing that stuff at night to get a little further along. We are working so much that I now only have Sunday to work on the house. I'm making lots of money to buy stuff for the house but no time to put it up. I'm not complaining though. It is funny though that not too long ago when I was laid off, I had lots of time for the house but no money. Ain't that just the way things go?

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

When is the house warming party?

Oh, I get it. The new wall will make the house warm.

Omelay said...

it looks great. can't beat free windows of reasonable quality. your studio looks like a cozy place.

we have the same trouble with money aligning with time to accomplish projects. i always attempt to purchase materials during bountiful times. when free time arrives i always seem to be missing critical parts and am unable to afford to finish. these cycles are disheartening and even small projects usually take two complete cycles to finish. argh..

MamaHen said...

Hey Pablo! I hope the wall helps make it warm! If I ever get to have a house warming party I will let you know well in advance. I may just have a "first hot shower in the house party" and have a couple of shots of whiskey.

MamaHen said...

Hey karl! Thanks, I think it will look pretty good when all the stone is finally in place. Yes, these cycles can be very disheartening but the important thing is that the projects do eventually get done.

Anonymous said...

BTW, I've noticed lately that your post titles have not been song titles. Wassup wit dat?

MamaHen said...

Well, Pablo, I guess it's just gotten harder to come up with some off the top of my head. Nowadays I am usually in such a rush when I do get to post anything that I really haven't had time to think of a good song title or research one when I'm posting. I know you noticed the play title that I used though.

Tossing Pebbles in the Stream said...

A gift of windows when you are building a house: almost better than new linens when you are getting married!

Your place looks really solid. Stone on the outside. . nice!

I had a neighbour who put granite on his; local black granite and grey granite from Beebee Quebec. It took him four summers. Working the stone with hand tools took time but his house is really solid now.

MamaHen said...

Hello Pebbles! Nice of you to visit. Yeah, windows are great gifts anytime. Wow! Four summers! That actually makes me feel a little better since I've only been working on mine 2 years. But then again, I'm not done with the stone work. ;)